4 Reasons to Celebrate Masturbation Month

May is here and it’s officially MASTURBATION MONTH! Pencil it into your calendars, people, because this is a real thing!

Masturbation Month started out as just one day. It was first declared by the folks over at Good Vibrations in honor of Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, who was fired in 1994 by President Bill Clinton for suggesting masturbation be part of the sex education curriculum for students (#reallybill?). It has since grown to encompass the whole randy, springtime month of May – and it’s gone international too!

So what’s the point of Masturbation Month? “To raise awareness and to highlight the importance of masturbation for nearly everyone: it’s safe, it’s healthy, it’s free, it’s pleasurable and it helps people get to know their bodies and their sexual responses. Of all the kinds of sex people can have, masturbation is the most universal and important, yet few people talk about it freely – worse, many people still feel it is “second best” or problematic in some way. Masturbation Month lets us emphasize how great it is: it’s natural, common and fun!” explains Good Vibrations.

Here are 4 reasons why you should join in the celebration:

Masturbation is good for the body

It turns out masturbation really does cum (lol) with a whole bunch of health benefits:

It releases happy chemicals such as oxytocin, dopamine, and endorphins.

Masturbating before falling asleep can help with insomnia.

It can relieve menstrual cramps and other kinds of physical pain.

Masturbation boosts the libido by acting as a positive upward spiral of pleasure and desire.

Masturbation is good for the soul

We exist in the world through our bodies and pleasure is such an important part of having a body. Exploring how they feel and react is the perfect way to get to know who we are as physical and sexual beings.

By discovering what it is we like through masturbation, we are better able to communicate our wants and needs to our partner(s) leading to more connected and fulfilling sexual experiences.

Solo sex is the perfect context in which to explore our fantasies – private, safe, and free from judgment.

Solo sex reduces stress by grounding us in the body and freeing the mind from busy thoughts.

Many of us give love, attention, affection, and tenderness freely to the people we care about. Imagine redirecting some of that warm, giving energy onto ourselves? Masturbation is an opportunity to be our own lover. The thought might take a little getting used to, but it can really open up a softness and a kindness towards the self that we rarely gift ourselves.

Masturbation feels good

In the same way that we only give ourselves permission to take a day off work if there’s something physically wrong with us, often we only give ourselves permission to do pleasurable things if there are proven benefits to doing so.

I’ll let myself masturbate, but only because it reduces stress.

I’ll let myself masturbate, but only because it helps me get to sleep.

While both of those things are true, masturbation is a great antidote for stress and insomnia, it also feels F*&%ING great and that should be reason enough!

It’s OK to just do what feels good!

Masturbation just got cheaper

Since IMTOY is in the business of making people feel good (together or alone) we’re celebrating this Masturbation Month by running a 20% discount on some of our bestselling toys!

I'm Zoe - IMTOY's resident blogger! ?✨Everyone pictures sex writers as being these wild, experienced unicorns, who are sexually fulfilled on, like, a cosmic level, or something. I know I certainly used to. But hey! Now I’m a sex writer too and I’m here to disprove the myth! ?